Once, evergreen forests stretched across Southeast Asia. Now the largest forest of this kind lies next to the Mekong River in Cambodia, and it is unprotected.
Custodians of the land and forest since before recorded history, the rhythms of Kuy traditions, beliefs, medicines and livelihoods are interwoven with existence of Prey Lang Forest.
Already there are mines, logging and rubber plantations. But these are small scale compared to what is coming next. International investment in mining, roads, plantations and dams could turn Prey Lang into an industrial estate with just a few years.
Once already the Kuy rose up to save Prey Lang from logger’s chainsaws. But more is needed than patrolling and advocacy. It is going to take the outside world waking up to the human and environmental imperative to save Prey Lang and the Kuy people.
Before the axe falls.
Watch the film here
Four flights and just over 34 hours of travel marked the beginning of the second phase of our 2009 Expedition Blue Planet as we flew halfway around the globe to join the Blue Legacy film crew in Cambodia. What started as a research outline quickly evolved into a five continent expedition dedicated to chronicling the interconnectivity of some of our most critical water stories.
But it wasn’t water that caught my attention as we winged our way above the Mekong River and banked to touch down in Phnom Penh. It was a thick blanket blocking the sun and shrouding the twisting gold and orange spires of local Wats in a cloak of drab gray. The thick scent of burning wood was caught in my throat and I realized that the city’s shroud is it’s ancient forests slipping slowly skyward leaving only stumps and muddy hillsides where once stood a global treasure.
© Blue Legacy International
The Mekong River, a mother for millions in South East Asia now under threat by dams, development and climate change. Expedition travels to the heart of the river in Cambodia where locals fear for their future if large hydropower projects are built on their river.
© Blue Legacy International
